Argos offered Mitchell more than $800K per season

Why did Mitchell choose to stay in Calgary?

Reigning Most Outstanding Player Bo Levi Mitchell decided to re-sign with the Calgary Stampeders Tuesday, but left more money on the table offered by the Toronto Argonauts.

Toronto Argonauts general manager Jim Popp was on TSN 1050 Wednesday, and said the offer he made to Mitchell was nearly 500K more than the one he accepted to stay in Calgary. Mitchell's annual salary with the Argos would have pushed past the $800K mark, per Popp.

"We put enough on a four-year deal that really outbid Calgary by as much as about ($500K) over a four-year span," Popp told TSN 1050. "He chose not to come here, it wasn't because we weren't paying him."

Popp did say that with all the money on the table for Mitchell, the team may have lost out on some other potential signings.

"While we were waiting on Bo Levi Mitcell, there was so much money on the table, we can’t go out and sign other players because we would never have made it work. So we did miss out on a few people."